Valve Boss Sees a Future In Which Apple Has Killed the Video Game Console

Gabe Newell, the man at the top of Valve Software, has had a vision of the future. At some point in Gabe’s futureworld, Apple will control the entertainment in your living room, making “the notion of a separate console platform” disappear.

The Valve co-founder prognosticated Apple’s living room-dominating future at the Washington Technology Industry Association’s TechNW conference game panel, reports the Seattle Times. Newell’s concept of a “platform” may differ from the conventional definition, as he sees the four platforms on which we play comprised of “the Internet, mobile, desktop and the living room.”

Newell said that, despite having no secret knowledge of a new Apple product, he suspects the iPod and iPad maker “will launch a living room product that redefines people’s expectations really strongly and the notion of a separate console platform will disappear.” That product may “disrupt” the living room platform and challenge the console’s hold on the living room.

Apple has been making slow, console-like inroads into the living room with its Apple TV product, which connects to its iPhone and iPad, in some cases using those portable platforms as controllers.

Seemingly worrisome to Newell is Apple’s (and Xbox Live’s) closed platform approach, which he describes as an “ominous” trend.

TechNW: Best and worst of times for games, Valve vs. Apple [Seattle Times]

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